A good Irelia (and even bad ones) can easily outtrade you or catch you off-guard. Your E+W combo usually never works because she can jump into safety with minions nearby. She can use the same trick to jump out of your ult.
Rush anti heal and Zhonya's and give up as much as you have to. Never 1v1 her.
Early on you can still get some stacks with E and W by simply targeting ally minions that are about to die.
Later in the game, Irelia is not a problem anymore, you just have to survive her early on.
Irelia will almost always build shieldbow/steraks and wit's end. You simply have to buy shadowflame (if she is the biggest threat in the entire game or someone else is also reliant on shields.
Aatrox
A good aatrox player can stomp you, however:
If you manage to sidestep even just one of his Q's or his W you will always win a trade past Level 6. You have to rush anti-heal into Zhonya's.
The key to winning this lane is knowing that aatrox heals A LOT by individual attacks and abilities. Swain on the other hand heals each second and even while Zhonya's is active. So, if he engages you with R you simply R as well and sidestep as well as you can. Use Zhonya's for his W or 3rd Q ONLY and you will win or survive every time.
Sett
If he gets in range you will die.
If you can play around your range and never step out too far, it is an easy lane, especially since you can use a stopwatch to avoid his W.
In Teamfights he can be a pain in the ass if he ults you out ouf it.
Darius
Most Darius players run Ghost which means they have to kill you or push you under tower in order for them to get a decent back.
Be careful of using your E+Passive on him without creating distance between the two of you. Otherwise he can pull you in and easily kill you.
If you can't create distance, don't use your passive. Simply W on top of him. Most Darius players will use their E anyway, expecting your passive. That gives you an opportunity to trade or even kill him.
Camille
Camille is very mobile and can avoid your ult or Q burst with her own (if she is smart).
Whenever you see her use her dash simply E+W the spot on the wall (immediately!). If you dont hit your E and she wants to go in use W on top of yourself. You are probably going to need Steelcaps in this matchup.
Garen
He's got a lot of tenacity which makes it hard to land E+W on him. Even if you hit your W he can Q to cleanse the slow.
You can't really 1v1 him unless you're very ahead or manage to poke him out of lane early on.
Watch the ult.
Akali
TANK AKALI:
1st step: Ban Akali. 2nd Step: Possibly play against another unfavorable matchup. But if a good Akali player goes for the "New" Tank Akali Build with CHemtank, there is little to nothing you can do. She will have ignite+tp and still be strong and mobile enough to 1 shot anyone. I think this will get nerfed soon, but just so you know: I have no advice for you here, I simply do not understand how it's legal for her to build tank items and deal the same damage without any trade-offs.
"Normal" Akali:
If Akali gave you a tough time in the past, let me put your mind at ease:
When you suspect she E‘s away from you (her projectile hits you, she dashed away from you) or you have a good reaction you can always Throw your E at her right then. She will be locked in her animation which will guarantee you your E if you react in time.
You can E+W+Passive her right away or put a W on top of you (depending on whether you have kill pressure or want to survive longer or force her to use ult to catch up to you)
Even if you fail to do any of this:
The moment she recasts her E, you Q in the direction she is coming from. That way you can deal a ton of free damage because she will eat at least three bolts of your Q.
Another thing to bear in mind is that you can easily hit your E while she is winding up her Q. Here you have to PREDICT she is going to Q the moment you throw your E, because her Q windup is very short.
Cho'Gath
There are different ways to play against cho gath.
Definitely always get full boots ASAP to dodge his Q‘s.
You can go „Perma Freeze“ or „Normie“ but I’d even prefer „Conqueror is not enough“, simply because he has to chunk you down enough to eat you. Simply sustain yourself to victory. Demonic embrace is a MUST if you choose to go with Riftmaker.
Dr. Mundo
You might think he’s a bad one because of his CC shield but that’s where you’re wrong. He scales insanely well with health and healing which will lead to you rushing oblivion orb into Lyandri‘s into Demonic Embrace 100% of times.
It goes without saying that you will still have to be careful early on!
Fiora
Fiora is hard to deal with. She can dodge all of your abilities and avoid your CC with ease. She can choose to fight you or retreat with her Q‘s. During laning phase the only thing you can do is try to E her whenever her W and Q are on cooldown. Later on you can choose to build Frozen Heart or even Randuins, they are both useful against her as well as useful in fights.
I recommend going for „Normie“ or „conqueror is not enough“ and just try to avoid fighting her. Simply scale as much as possible to carry teamfights while she is splitpushing later on.
Gangplank
Gangplank can be annoying to lane against because of his Grasp+Q poke accompanied by a refillable.
His W cleanse is kinda buggy and often times you can still pull him even though he cleansed your E.
I recommend either going for „BIG SWAIN“ and poking him with grasp as well, while benefiting from second wind OR using the „Perma-Freeze“ to counter his passive movement speed as well as his E (he will have to choose to either cleanse Everfrost or your E).
The choice comes down to whether you’re going to be able to scale well or just have to soak in enough damage to trade with him.
I don’t recommend Conqueror however, simply because GP‘s trade pattern doesn’t allow you to get the most out of it.
Gnar
Don’t underestimate Gnar. He WILL kite you until you cry and 100-0 you past level 6 even during your own ultimate. If you get caught in his ult you die 99,99% of the time.
However!
I do not recommend this: You can go „Zapper“ and rush Zhonya‘s. That way whenever he walks up you can potentially punish him with electrocute and recover with second wind. Whenever he tries to ult you, you simply spam R+stopwatch and hope to survive. This is only advised if the game is dependent on you HAVING to win lane at all cost.
Instead I recommend this: Go for „Normie“ or „BIG SWAIN“ and play it chill. After laning phase is over you can beat him together with your team.
Graves
I doubt Graves toplane will stay with us, so I’ll not go into any details, except playing it safe. There might be moments where you think you can kill him, but as soon as you ult and walk up to him he will shoot you dead.
Gwen
Gwen is stupid. Period. You cannot properly trade with her ESPECIALLY early on. But it is still far from an unplayable lane. You have to get grievous wounds early on and poke her as much as you can.
Whenever she casts her Q, you can use E+W+Passive on top of her. You have to be patient and wait out your E root as long as possible, though. If you use your passive too early she can jump out of your W, possibly toward you. Either time it correctly or cast W in the space between you and her so she has to back off or dash into your W.
Illaoi
As long as you don’t run into her and dodge her Q&E‘s, you’re fine. Don't actively look to kill her, you’re better off going for „Perma Freeze“ to keep her at bay. This will be especially useful if she decides to join a teamfight and you can lock her in place and reduce her damage.
Jax
The good thing is: he stacks HP and You are not an auto-attack based champion. The bad thing: He also excels in 1v1s and builds Divine Sunderer - and YOU Stack Health as well.
This one is a little more chill than Gwen IMO. Sure, he can jump out of your ult but he also can’t really do anything against your poke once you got Liandry’s. The key is to stay far enough away and keep him low enough so he can’t all in you. Even if he does: as long as you got your ult you will survive. But you will not survive another all in after that. You have to play this one smart.
Jayce
Jayce will always look to harass you from a distance. Try to stay behind minions and farm.
Only pop your ult if he jumps onto you. Then he will try to knock you away ASAP, which is why you wanna cast your W slightly behind him so he has no choice but to flash it or walk back towards you.
Past 6 you should win every fight after your first item if you can keep him inside your ult for long enough.
If he flashes away and is not low enough for you to finish him with Q+flash or ult+flash just leave him be. He can retaliate pretty well.
I recommend Seeker’s Armguard on your first and Oblivion Orb on your second back.
Kayle
Kayle can do little to none to you throughout her early laning phase. If you feel confident enough grab the „Zapper“ (or “I am trolling!”) build to make her lane a living nightmare.
One of the few lanes where electrocute is better than conqueror because you will have to kill her ASAP throughout the entire game.
Past level 6 you might have to pop your ult early and unexpectedly so she can’t react with her own ult.
Kled
If Kled hits his full Q it will apply Grievous Wounds, so try to avoid that as much as possible.
The key to winning against kled is playing safe until you have enough mana to poke him until his mount disappears and then going all in on him.
Beware of the enemy jungler, he can set up ganks with Q+ult pretty good.
Malphite
Malphite wants to play against AD champions, not mages. If he plays reserved you can scale freely and if he wants to harass you you will win every single trade UNLESS you run into him. Whenever you suspect he’s going for Q’s to poke you, simply cast E slightly before and it will hit.
When you pull him in with your passive he can cast E and slow your attack speed, so don’t even bother trading with autos.
Past 6 he will either all in you with ult and lose or use it to survive yours.
Get stopwatch early to avoid his ult altogether. You might survive one rotation from Malphite but if the enemy jungler suddenly shows up you’re dead meat.
“Normie” or “Conqueror isn’t enough” simply because he can’t apply 60% grievous wounds well, unless he runs ignite.
Maokai
Nobody plays him top anymore but he can avoid your Q and ult burst with his W. You can’t really outtrade him because of his passive heal, you’ll simply drain your mana. Worst of all, his ult is a huge cockblock in teamfights.
If you’re unlucky enough to face a good maokai player just chill and farm as long as you can and look for tp plays past 6.
Mordekaiser
Go “Perma-Freeze” or “Normie” and keep him at a safe distance.
He can’t do much against your range and usually ends up getting kited.
Shadowflame might be worth buying as a second or third item. If you do purchase it early, you’ll have to get a stopwatch before.
In teamfights he can save his team from you with his ult. Either wait for him to ult someone else or (if you go “Perma-Freeze”) bait him toward you and lock him in place.
You do not want to get stuck in his Ult while yours is active. You lose a ton of damage that way and it may cost you the teamfight. The only way this is tolerable is if you’re so fed you can kill him with 2-3 Q’s.
Nasus
You can bully him early on and can definitely kill him with the “Normie” build.
If you suspect the enemy jungler to camp him with something like Elise or Talon, you can run Phase rush to make his slow useless and simply back off. Get oblivion orb ASAP.
Ornn
If you let him get too close early on, he can assassinate you pretty easily.
Don’t let him bully you during laning phase, farm and harass him with W if he retreats to buy something with his passive.
His CC can be dangerous in teamfights especially if he’s got thornmail. I recommend running “Normie” but swapping one of the items with a void staff. Ornn is a tanky fella.
Poppy
Poppy is one of those tanks with way too much damage. If she stuns you there is a high chance you’re going to die. So, stay clear of walls. In fact, stay out of her way during laning phase and you will survive.
If you’re unlucky she will kick you out of teamfights with her e or ult, which is not a good thing.
Quinn
She might run ignite but once you reach 6 you can 100-0 her with one rotation even without electrocute. You can go for “Perma-Freeze” or “Zapper”. Glacial augment will deny target access and electrocute makes sure she’s dead, even if you don’t play a 1v1 perfectly.
Renekton
Just go for the “Normie” and play lane safely.
Alternatively, you can go “Perma-Freeze” and make his poor target access even worse.
Basically, as long as you keep your distance he can’t do anything to hurt you. Mind his double jump if he dashes through your wave. If somehow, he still manages to catch you by surprise, just spam your ult and W on top of yourself and stopwatch, if you’ve already got it.
He can definitely kill you but if you’re smart he won’t reach you.
Rengar
In my experience, he jumps on you and dies past 6. He doesn’t have any tools to get away once he jumps in so make sure he can’t 100-0 you. Get seeker’s into steel caps if necessary - as long as you survive his burst he’s a dead kitty.
Riven
A terrible lane for most Swains. However, I recommend going for “BIG SWAIN” and trying to outlive her in fights. Try to avoid 1v1 confrontations and definitely get seeker’s+steelcaps ASAP. Later on, in teamfights, you will outshine her even from behind. That does not mean you should willingly fall behind, though.
Singed
Don’t chase him and don’t trade unless you’re going for passive stacks. I recommend running either “BIG SWAIN” with force of nature or “Normie” and ignoring him for the entire laning phase.
Sion
Run “Normie”.
Cast W on top of him whenever he channels his Q and preferably get Demonic embrace to counter his immense amount of HP.
Sylas
Sylas will outscale you with your own ult. Enough said. I honestly didn’t come up with any strategy to beat him, yet. Luckily, you very rarely see a Sylas top.
Tahm Kench
Stay out of his way during laning phase. If he dives interrupt it with your E.
He can either eat you OR one of his teammates during a teamfight. If he chooses to eat you during your ult, you will lose a lot of damage. If he eats one of his allies, wait for him to cast his dive and interrupt it with your E.
You can also cast your W in the direction he is probably going to spit out his teammate or cast it on where he comes up again, should he have the chance to dive away.
Don’t get eaten.
Teemo
Use the “Zapper” build and harass him every time you get the chance to do so. Temp is unbelievably easy to kill for you. That does not mean run up to him with cooldowns! But you can chunk him 2-3 times with e+passive+electrocute+scorch and then finish him off the 4th time or force him out of lane. Be careful of ganks pre 6.
Trundle
Trundle kills everyone who can’t match his DPS. Sadly, you can’t until you reach your third or fourth item. Relax, ask for ganks if possible and farm up. Trundle can hit his pillar very easily and if he does so past 6 you will most likely die.
Tryndamere
The goal is to punish him before 6. You can definitely kill tryndamere if he underestimates your damage with conqueror. Ideally, you want to poke him with E+Passive and AA and keep your conqueror stacks up so he can’t walk up to farm. You can slow push the wave under his turret once he backs off and harass him under tower. Once again: beware of junglers and unexpected early roams!
Urgot
Due to his gigantic hitbox you will hit 99% of your E’s which makes it easy to farm soul fragments off of him.
Urgot doesn’t do well against Swain. His range is too low to effectively trade and his target access is only OK if he uses flash+E. Because he is locked in animation during his E you can cast your W where he comes out or on top of you (/slightly behind you) should he manage to hit you with it.
If you want to disengage you can now simply walk away because of your W slow on top of his on slow during his W.
If he wants to engage you by slowing you with his ult you simply wait until he’s in range or flash+E’s onto you and use stopwatch+ult. I recommend the “Normie” build+getting a stopwatch ASAP. Without it, he might kill you if he does it perfectly or gets a gank. With it, you can negate too much of his damage for him to effectively fight you.
Vayne
I have not yet played against a vayne top with swain, but I feel like you will have to play very reserved and wait for her to use her dash. Once it’s gone, fire away. Adcs usually have a hard time dealing with Swain. I might actually play “BIG SWAIN” against her so you can hit your E and sustain against her in lane. You could then possibly build Anathema’s and Frozen Heart to just disrupt her in every fight.
Vladimir
Vladimir can go skinny dipping in his own blood, which is a bad thing. His trades throughout the entire game are always going to be better than yours, simply because of his pool. I recommend the “Normie” build + oblivion orb on your first back. I wouldn’t really fight him in 1v1s unless he uses his pool poorly. Once it’s out you can kill him past 6, especially if you already have a stopwatch on you.
Volibear
You are going to need anti-heal. Before you get it, he can kill you past 6 even with your ult, unless you dance with him perfectly. Shadowflame could be a viable option but he is not dangerous enough to build it just because of him. Only go for it if the enemy team has shield enchanters like Lulu or Janna or an adc with Shieldbow.
Yasuo
This is skill dependent. A good yasuo can ruin your life, a bad one can block your E and mildly annoy you.
Don’t give him opportunities to dash out of your ult through your wave!
If he hits his 3rd Q past 6 you simply cast your W on top of yourself (make sure he can’t dash away with minions before the next step!) and spam ult. If he doesn’t already have 34% life steal he is going to die or flash away. If he tries to fight you within his wind wall, walk away. He can block your Q and E. Worst case, you gotta wait a while to be able to ult again. If you’re lucky, he’ll get greedy and step outside of it, opening himself up to be killed.
Yone
Yone has no way of dealing with you in the early laning phase. If he uses his Q he’ll stop for a moment which is when you can E+Passive+W him. If he tries to use his E to trade with you, just use your Q and AA to trade back. Then you try to W on top of his shadow shortly before he returns back to it, slowing him. Then you can easily hit your E and continue to harass him as long as you can (don’t overextend!)
Yorick
Past 6, if you manage to sidestep his abilities, which is honestly not that hard, you can fight him even with his Maiden up UNLESS he built grievous wounds early. Your Q is very effective against everything: it will hit him, his ghouls and his maiden. With your ult you will heal off of his maiden and ghouls as well, on top of him and his minion wave. If you do not manage to kill him or his maiden during your ult, you will have missed your chance and shouldn’t try again. Without your ult and with his still up he can and will kill you.
Shen
Shen falls off like a rock before coming back in late game. Be careful pre 6 (and post 6 if he runs ignite). Avoid standing between him and his blade. If he pulls it through you, His autos are greatly enhanced and he can (and WILL) kill you.
If you play well around your range and force him to trade aggresively with his E you can simply ult as soon as he dashes toward you. He has no means of escaping other than flash. Hold onto your E during laning phase, expecially if he moves out of vision so you can cancel his ult.
Vi
You can use your W on top of her ult or to restrict enemy movement, allowing her to get in range/hit her Q or forcing your opponent to flash.
Ahri
If you’ve got a good Ahri player on your team who hits her skillshots well, you’ll be able to pull off one of the most annoying CC chains possible which is her charm into your W+E+Passive. You’ll have to plant your W as soon as she hits her charm. That way, even if the target flashes away, Ahri will be able to catch up even without using her ult. If she doesn’t hit her E you’ll get out empty-handed, though.
Alistar
Everybody has heard of Alistar+Swain botlane by now. Well, having an Alistar by your side during a teamfight will drastically help you keeping enemies inside your ult as long as possible.
Ashe
Everything Ashe has to offer in teamfights is good for you. You can W on top of her ult and her slows help you keep people inside your own.
Your W and her E make you able to always be able to check neutral objectives, whenever you need to. Simultaneously.
Diana
Diana’s & Swains ult work very well together. If she manages to pull off a great ult, you need to get in there with your own.
Amumu
One of the best junglers you can possibly team up with. His target access and ult will guarantee kills almost always. Be careful not to pull enemies in too soon or when you’re too far away.
Yone
Playing alongside a good (and even a bad) Yone is CRAZY. He already has great target access and burst damage past 6. If he manages to catch someone (or more) people in his ult, simply W on top of it and get in there if you’re near.
Anivia
Actually she synergies quite well with Swain for obvious reasons. The only downside is your team will probably have too much AP damage and lack mobility.
Fiddlesticks
Having a fiddlesticks jungle is great when playing ahead but he is only useful if he manages to pull off ult engages when he’s out of vision, so he can fear a bunch of people at once.
In practice you could end up canceling his fear with your passive a lot and he doesn’t have useful ganks pre 6.
Blitzcrank
I guess he can silence people during your ult or hook someone inside but in practice I don’t see that happening a lot.
Gangplank
Your ults work OK in combination but it’s unlikely there is going to be a gangplank mid.
Braum
His ult is very useful in fights, but only if he manages to pull it off. Otherwise he has little to offer besides his passive stun, which will only be useful if other people hit his marks with you.
Hecarim
His ult is great for engaging or flanking enemies in teamfights. If he engages with his E or ult from behind enemy lines, your passive will do wonders.
Irelia
When she's ahead both of you will carry any teamfight. If not, you can still manage to help her out with your W when she casts her ult.
Gragas
It's a coinflip. He does have strong ganks, though.
Jarvan IV
Another coinflip. Totally dependant on how he uses his ult in combination with yours. Even then, if he traps someone inside his R you can W on top of them and they can't dodge it.
Ivern
His Q CAN help you stay in range (or cancel his cc sometimes) and Daisy will make sure nobody can escape. Nevertheless, his shields allow you to frontline even more effectively.
Bard
Again, totally dependant on his ult usage. His Q and E are still very helpful to keep people inside your ult or flank opponents.
Karma
It CAN be good to teamfight alongside her, although she will most likely protect her adc.
Her ult+Q slow is very good to punish clumped opponents. you can cast your W on fleeing enemies to make them stay inside Karma's or run into your AOE.
Maokai
Ult dependant BUT if he's smart he will always catch at least one or two people with it, allowing you to run them down with your ult in teamfights.
Katarina
Your biggest counter in teamfights is in your team. Congrats.
Jhin
His ult and W work very well with your kit.
Rakan
Rakan is a beast with his char and knockup. Your kits work VERY well together.
Yasuo
He can ult off of your passive and you wont have an AP midlaner. You can very often look for long range W's from top if he hits ult or 3rd Q.
Qiyana
If Qiyana hits a nice ult I feel like the fight is already practically over. If you're there with her or W on stunned enemies, it most definitely is. Also, no AP midlaner.
Leona
She can stun people very frequently and has an AOE ult that applies slow and/or stun.
Malphite
W on top of his ult. It's really mean.
Malzahar
You can go for long range W's past 6 whenever he ults and keep him safe pre 6 by placing your W on top of him whenever the enemy jungler is trying to kill him.
In teamfights you have to be very careful not to cancel his CC with your passive on high-priority targets or he'll cry.
Because you're both going for Liandry's, you'll win against any tanky comp given enough time.
Rammus
W on top of taunted or fleeing enemies. Nobody will be able to escape him.
Rell
She's got so much AOE CC you have no choice but to marry her.
Lillia
If she manages a nice ult it will almost always decide the fight if you're near with yours up. Don't cancel her CC with your passive too early.
Skarner
He's got a ton of movement speed and CC which will keep people inside your ult or allow you to W on top of them.
Shaco
If his clown blows up inside the enemy team or he plants a good box that fears a bunch of people, W on top of them and run at them with your R.
Morgana
Not being able to be CCed is perfect. Furthermore, if she hits her ult or Q on someone that person is most likely dead with your follow up damage.
Zac
Honestly I believe this the best Jungler for Swain top. Any other tank with a good engage will do the trick but Zacs CC works way too well in combination with your kit.
Zyra
Whenever she decides to ult a few people, you just charge at them with your R and give 'em hell. Especially useful if you fight in the jungle since you can restrict enemy movement better with your W.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Vi
You can use your W on top of her ult or to restrict enemy movement, allowing her to get in range/hit her Q or forcing your opponent to flash.
Ahri
If you’ve got a good Ahri player on your team who hits her skillshots well, you’ll be able to pull off one of the most annoying CC chains possible which is her charm into your W+E+Passive. You’ll have to plant your W as soon as she hits her charm. That way, even if the target flashes away, Ahri will be able to catch up even without using her ult. If she doesn’t hit her E you’ll get out empty-handed, though.
Alistar
Everybody has heard of Alistar+Swain botlane by now. Well, having an Alistar by your side during a teamfight will drastically help you keeping enemies inside your ult as long as possible.
Ashe
Everything Ashe has to offer in teamfights is good for you. You can W on top of her ult and her slows help you keep people inside your own.
Your W and her E make you able to always be able to check neutral objectives, whenever you need to. Simultaneously.
Diana
Diana’s & Swains ult work very well together. If she manages to pull off a great ult, you need to get in there with your own.
Amumu
One of the best junglers you can possibly team up with. His target access and ult will guarantee kills almost always. Be careful not to pull enemies in too soon or when you’re too far away.
Yone
Playing alongside a good (and even a bad) Yone is CRAZY. He already has great target access and burst damage past 6. If he manages to catch someone (or more) people in his ult, simply W on top of it and get in there if you’re near.
Anivia
Actually she synergies quite well with Swain for obvious reasons. The only downside is your team will probably have too much AP damage and lack mobility.
Fiddlesticks
Having a fiddlesticks jungle is great when playing ahead but he is only useful if he manages to pull off ult engages when he’s out of vision, so he can fear a bunch of people at once.
In practice you could end up canceling his fear with your passive a lot and he doesn’t have useful ganks pre 6.
Blitzcrank
I guess he can silence people during your ult or hook someone inside but in practice I don’t see that happening a lot.
Gangplank
Your ults work OK in combination but it’s unlikely there is going to be a gangplank mid.
Braum
His ult is very useful in fights, but only if he manages to pull it off. Otherwise he has little to offer besides his passive stun, which will only be useful if other people hit his marks with you.
Hecarim
His ult is great for engaging or flanking enemies in teamfights. If he engages with his E or ult from behind enemy lines, your passive will do wonders.
Irelia
When she's ahead both of you will carry any teamfight. If not, you can still manage to help her out with your W when she casts her ult.
Gragas
It's a coinflip. He does have strong ganks, though.
Jarvan IV
Another coinflip. Totally dependant on how he uses his ult in combination with yours. Even then, if he traps someone inside his R you can W on top of them and they can't dodge it.
Ivern
His Q CAN help you stay in range (or cancel his cc sometimes) and Daisy will make sure nobody can escape. Nevertheless, his shields allow you to frontline even more effectively.
Bard
Again, totally dependant on his ult usage. His Q and E are still very helpful to keep people inside your ult or flank opponents.
Karma
It CAN be good to teamfight alongside her, although she will most likely protect her adc.
Her ult+Q slow is very good to punish clumped opponents. you can cast your W on fleeing enemies to make them stay inside Karma's or run into your AOE.
Maokai
Ult dependant BUT if he's smart he will always catch at least one or two people with it, allowing you to run them down with your ult in teamfights.
Katarina
Your biggest counter in teamfights is in your team. Congrats.
Jhin
His ult and W work very well with your kit.
Rakan
Rakan is a beast with his char and knockup. Your kits work VERY well together.
Yasuo
He can ult off of your passive and you wont have an AP midlaner. You can very often look for long range W's from top if he hits ult or 3rd Q.
Qiyana
If Qiyana hits a nice ult I feel like the fight is already practically over. If you're there with her or W on stunned enemies, it most definitely is. Also, no AP midlaner.
Leona
She can stun people very frequently and has an AOE ult that applies slow and/or stun.
Malphite
W on top of his ult. It's really mean.
Malzahar
You can go for long range W's past 6 whenever he ults and keep him safe pre 6 by placing your W on top of him whenever the enemy jungler is trying to kill him.
In teamfights you have to be very careful not to cancel his CC with your passive on high-priority targets or he'll cry.
Because you're both going for Liandry's, you'll win against any tanky comp given enough time.
Rammus
W on top of taunted or fleeing enemies. Nobody will be able to escape him.
Rell
She's got so much AOE CC you have no choice but to marry her.
Lillia
If she manages a nice ult it will almost always decide the fight if you're near with yours up. Don't cancel her CC with your passive too early.
Skarner
He's got a ton of movement speed and CC which will keep people inside your ult or allow you to W on top of them.
Shaco
If his clown blows up inside the enemy team or he plants a good box that fears a bunch of people, W on top of them and run at them with your R.
Morgana
Not being able to be CCed is perfect. Furthermore, if she hits her ult or Q on someone that person is most likely dead with your follow up damage.
Zac
Honestly I believe this the best Jungler for Swain top. Any other tank with a good engage will do the trick but Zacs CC works way too well in combination with your kit.
Zyra
Whenever she decides to ult a few people, you just charge at them with your R and give 'em hell. Especially useful if you fight in the jungle since you can restrict enemy movement better with your W.
Well, I love Swain since the rework. Back then, I loved the idea of the soul fragments empowering your ult and everything. It feels to me like he was much stronger in solo lanes back then. Some time around the start of season 11 I noticed he was a real beast but only until the first major changes to healing and grievous wounds, as well as item changes.
For a long time I have only very seldom played "BIG SWAIN" top with Frostfire, but always felt like something was missing. I wasn't satisfied with Liandry's not granting Health, the removal of Rod of Ages and the way they changed Seraph's.
With the Preseason 12 changes, I think he is a real monster in the toplane, if you can be patient.
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Swain is not good in solo lanes
No, he really isn't. This is exactly why you have to spend the first 10-15 minutes only trading from a safe distance and always keeping an eye on the map.Surviving is always more important than trading! In 90% of cases you will outshine your lane opponent in teamfights later on ANYWAY. As long as he or she doesn't get ahead you're always going to be fine.
Pre 6 you are incredibly susceptible to ganks and you'll have to look for opportunities to W snipe the enemy midlaner or jungler to get some bonus stacks. Post 6 the power usually shifts in your favor. Swain ult gives you some bonus health, tick damage heal and usually an extra Q in all directions if you keep enemies inside your ult when it pops. While your ult is on cd, you will have to play as if you were level 5 again. DOn't take any chances and DON'T TAKE UNNECESSARY FIGHTS.
After Laning phase, ideally you want to stay as close to your team as often as possible and look for opportunities to fight while neutral objectives are up.
If your lane opponent excels in split pushing, only clear waves and only even BE there if you got TP up to join a fight.
What are the benefits of playing Swain Top?
Your biggest advantage is your greatest disadvantage. Nobody cares about toplane. Very rarely will opponents consider to gank or roam top because it'll usually cost them something on the other side of the map. That's why people like to say "Toplane is an island".
Now what does this mean? Well, it means you can scale freely for as long as you want to if you play accordingly. You're also going to have an XP lead on a solo lane.
And how is this a disadvantage? You want to fight a lot. You want your "Damage dealt to champions" stat to be as high as humanely possible at the end of every game.
This is why I strongly recommend TP for flanking or simply using it after a teamfight to go back to Lane (if absolutely necessary) to stop the enemy toplaner from taking towers.
How do I play Swain Top correctly
Your damage in the early game is low. I would refrain from using your Q at all unless the situation calls for it. Try to cast (AND HIT) your E+W+Passive as frequently as possible. The best opportunity to hit is if you cast it shortly before your lane opponent wants to last hit minions. Poke with AA against melee champions as often as you can. LEARN how to FARM with Swain, without using your abilites. If you can do all these things, while keeping an eye on the map, the worst that can happen in the worst of matchups is getting killed a few times.
When NOT to play Swain Top
Swain does extremely well against most Bruisers if you play him correctly, with some exceptions. However, he hates when he gets outranged.
See "Threats" to learn more about possible matchups.
Usually, off-meta picks like viktor, Akshan, etc. top can hurt you. The key is to KNOWING in champion select, who your lane opponent is going to be and what kind of runes and items you are most likely going to run. If you can't tell, always go for the "Normie" build and you WILL have an impact later on, it just might not be optimal for your lane. If you fear you're going to hard lose your lane, don't risk playing Swain, unless you want to learn from the experience.
Another thing is other people like to play AP picks too. The more AP there is the less likely it is for Swain top to be a strong pick. Swain top is going to be strongest if you have an AD midlaner.
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An honest guide to Swain Toplane
Build Guide By boboderaffe
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